Female prisoner who escaped from York Correctional Institution is captured

East Lyme — For the second time in three months, a female prisoner has walked away from the York Correctional Institution.

Lori Beyus, 49, of Torrington, an inmate with a lengthy criminal record, escaped from the York Correctional Institution early Sunday but was captured 12 hours later about a mile from the facility.

The Department of Correction said that at about 6:15 a.m. the prison was placed in lockdown and an emergency count of prisoners was ordered when correctional officers reported that Beyus was missing during breakfast in the dining hall.

The Correction Department said the escape was considered a "walk away" because Beyus was housed on the minimum-security side of the facility, which is not totally secured by a fence.

State police said that she was captured shortly after they received a 911 call at 5:40 p.m. from a person reporting a possible sighting of Beyus along Interstate 95 near the North Bridebook Road overpass.

A search by local and state police and correction staff led to her apprehension at 6:15. Beyus was charged with first-degree escape, processed by state police and then turned over to the Correction Department. She is scheduled to appear in New London Superior Court on April 22.

Beyus is serving a 51-month sentence for a Milford robbery in 2012. Over the past seven years she has convictions for possession of narcotics, second-degree stalking, first-degree failure to appear in court, fifth-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit fifth-degree larceny, reckless driving, third-degree larceny, conspiracy to commit third-degree larceny, and disorderly conduct, according to state judicial records. She also has been convicted of violation of probation eight times, sixth-degree larceny twice and interfering with a police officer twice.

On Jan. 5, two prisoners were walking back from the gymnasium to their housing unit in an unfenced part of the prison when they fled to a location on nearby Roxbury Road, where they were picked up by someone in a vehicle. The two women were apprehended in Hartford about 24 hours later. Their escape prompted prison officials to review housing assignments for inmates in the unfenced section of the prison.

East Lyme First Selectman Paul Formica said both his public safety director and the prison warden called him just before 7 a.m. to inform him of a possible escape. About an hour and a half to two hours later — when the escape was confirmed, Formica said — an alert was sent out via the town's Everbridge system to notify residents. A notice was also posted on the town's website, he said. Formica said he also called neighboring town officials to inform them.